A WARRNAMBOOL baker caught driving three times with ice in his system who had his ute confiscated has now been fined $1500 after he gutted it and failed to surrender the vehicle to police.
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Jacob Arndell, 25, of Tylden Street, Dennington, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to failing to surrender the ute and disposing of his interest in the vehicle.
Police claim he removed the motor, gearbox, seats, lights and the windows - effectively just the shell was left and he failed to surrender it at 9am on August 3 as required.
In early July Arndell was in court for speeding at 58km/h in a 50 km/h zone and three counts of drug impaired driving.
As well as forfeiting his Holden ute, he was banned from driving for three months and fined $1000.
On the afternoon of August 7 police went to Arndell's home and found that the Holden ute had been completely stripped.
Arndell told the court the motor blew up and he removed it before he got the notice to surrender the ute and that he had crashed it.
Magistrate Cynthia Toose said it was clear that Arndell had stripped the vehicle and heafty fines could be imposed.
The maximum penalty for doing what Ardell did is a fine of about $9500.
Arndell was convicted and fined $1500 and the magistrate said the message had to be sent to the community that court orders had to be obeyed.
Police said Arndell was caught speeding in Murray Street on the afternoon of March 2 and recorded a positive oral fluid driver test to crystal methylamphetamine - ice.
He was pulled over by the same police officer on March 20 and then again two days later and each time was positive to using ice.
Arndell repeatedly said he did not know how it was in his system.
He told the magistrate he had been having a hard time during March and agreed he had been self-medicating with ice.
Police also successfully applied for Arndell 's Holden ute to be forfeited - one of the first in south-west Victoria.
Arndell’s attempts to get around that order landed him back in court.